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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Some Serious Weight and Fitness Milestones!

I cannot believe it's been 10 days since I last posted! Time goes by fast. I have been thinking I needed to write. We've been doing a good bit of prep for the holidays. It's all random stuff, too. I mean, we got the tree up and the decorations down from the attic but I've also cleaned up the pantry and the laundry room and I'm almost done with my playroom curtains. I discovered that I am terrible at hanging wreaths on the windows with suction cups but the wreaths are all up and the garland is on the balcony so I guess it doesn't matter how messy it was doing it! Incidentally, growing up, I used to fantasize about having a balcony. How funny is that?

First of all...I am now (drum roll) 110 pounds!!! Seriously, everyone, that is 11 pounds since September 21. I forgot to get Mike to take a photo of me today and the outfit I usually wear for fitness pics is in the dirty clothes basket but the above photo is from late October...6 pounds heavier than I am now! That photo is at a good angle but you can really see the difference today in my jawline as well as my waistline. This is pretty exciting because, as you know, I've been making an effort not to overdo anything. I don't starve myself and I don't exercise like a fiend. I'm simply trying to find a healthy balance for myself and my family.

As far as my martial arts, I feel like I have hardly missed a beat in my aikido training. I think all the visualization I do when I have downtime or can't sleep is doing a lot of good in that arena, as silly as it sounds. I definitely have some issues with strength but my technique recall, footwork, reaction times, and flows are much the same as they were before. Same thing happened at the seminar I was at a month ago. How amazing is that?

Strength-wise, I have made major headway. I went to Mike's TBS class on Monday. It's not an easy class. I took it pretty easy through it but I was able to do it. A few weeks ago, I couldn't have even done the warmup. I'm teaching 3 kids aikido classes and now that I'm not all sinus-y, I'm back to regular adult aikido classes. Also, check out what throws I did on Saturday at aikido. I did try to do these about 3 weekends ago and I could barely manage the simplest one. The guy went over but it was ugly and I ached around my hernia surgery the next 2 days. This time? No problems! I did stop after a few just to not test my luck. (You can just skip to the middle and see a throw or two. Also, we aren't quite as, um, dramatic as these guys are).

Seriously, I am so encouraged and excited about all of this. I'm now within 5 pounds of my tentative goal. I can wear most of my dresses and jackets now as well as a number of my old shirts. I can still only wear a couple of pairs of pants but I'm getting there! I'm continuing to work on my core strength as well as my stamina. One thing that did NOT go especially well Saturday was randori, or Aikido's version of sparring. I did okay but I was so ridiculously winded. But hey! I'm happy with what I've got so far! Six months ago I would never have thought I'd feel as well as I do at this moment. :) My doctor says that 6 months ago she never thought I'd feel as well as I do at this moment! God is good.